Cape Town Tourism Surveys Reveal Cautious Optimism

A series of tourism surveys concluded in November by Cape Town Tourism as a means to better understand and prepare for the upcoming summer season in the Southern Hemisphere indicate cautious optimism. In the accommodation sector, 70.9 percent of respondents to Cape Town Tourism’s survey of member hotels are expecting an average or above average summer season (relative to 2009 figures) and 75.3 percent of those expect returning visitors.

More than 30 percent of respondents reported an increase in bookings on the same period for 2009. A third of respondents are forecasting occupancy levels above 50 percent. The average size of booking parties is for couples and small groups of between three and seven people, generally for about two to seven nights. More than 38.4 percent of respondents say that most of their bookings are from international source markets, such as the Americas, the U.K., Germany and the Netherlands. More than 85 percent of accommodation establishments reported that bookings were made online, either directly or through booking aggregators.

In the tour operator segment, 65.4 percent of responding member tour operators expect a good summer season, with a third reporting an increase in bookings on the same period last year. More than 62 percent report bookings made in advance, however, the majority are still expecting last-minute bookings to come in. More than 69 percent report bookings from the international market, with the largest amount of bookings made by Americans, Britons, the Dutch and Germans respectively.

The average size of booking parties is couples and small groups of between three and seven people. Nearly 70 percent of respondents have tour bookings for the City and Winelands, while 46.2 percent report bookings for Cape Town and the Garden Route. Sixty-three percent of respondents received online bookings and 29.6 percent through travel agents.

The results of these surveys, repeated at key intervals throughout the peak season period, along with information from Cape Town Tourism’s 16 Visitor Information Centers (VICs) and industry stakeholders, will be used to identify tourism trends post-World Cup, the reaction of key and emerging source markets, as well as market and industry trends. Arrivals statistics for September show that arrivals into the country grew by 12.9 percent with a total of 658,565 visitors, up from 583,352 last year September.

Traditional core markets showed huge growth over the month, possibly a result of displaced travelers who would normally have traveled over the period of the World Cup. The U.K., South Africa’s top market, swelled by 11.3 percent, while the U.S. market grew by 30.2 percent. Cape Town Tourism is the City of Cape Town's Official Regional Tourism Organization, responsible for destination marketing, visitor and industry services.